The first part of “I am Anne Frank” focused on a new patient arriving at Briarcliff and the trouble it causes when she recognizes Dr. Arden from her time at Auschwitz. The show also delved deeper into the ideas of sanity and insanity. Both Kit and Lana fell victim to treatments for their illness which as fans know don’t actually exist. Lana undergoes aversion/conversion therapy which involves being drugged to make her sick as she looks at images of woman and then being forced to touch to naked man. Poor Kit is starting to doubt his sanity as everyone is telling him he is the serial killer.

So what gave American Horror Story the idea to bring in Anne Frank into the story line? Ryan Murphy points out that the idea began with the first season when they used The Black Dahlia as a character. They wanted to continue on the theme of using historical figures on the show. Murphy explained to Entertainment Weekly he was interested in Anne Frank for the mystery surrounding her fate, “The Anne Frank thing was always interesting to me because after the war, much like the Anastasia case, there were many women who came forward after that diary and said, “Well I’m the real Anne Frank,” and they were struck down. Many of them were found to be mentally ill and suffering from schizophrenia, so I read about those cases.”

Murphy also based Lana’s aversion/conversion therapy on real treatments, everything that they had Dr. Thredson say to Lana was based on fact. That’s what makes the scene so horrifying, real people were actually put through this treatment to treat their homosexuality. Although Murphy checked with Sarah Paulson after writing the script, knowing it would be a particularly difficult scene, she didn’t want to change a thing. In order to help her get through the filming, Murphy had the set closed and revealed that she leaned on Zachary Quinto (playing Dr. Thredson) for support. It seems like Paulson felt the scene was something the public needed to see, according to Murphy, “She and Zach were very supportive of each other even though he’s the villain in it. They both felt it was a very important thing to show people.” And things are only going to get worse for Lana but she’s a character that fans will continue to root for.

In a final spoiler, Murphy revealed that episode 2×06 entitled “The Origins of Monstrosity” will show fans why the Monsignor is covering for Dr. Arden. We will also learn Bloody Face’s motive for becoming a serial killer. “The Origins of Monstrosity” will be about getting deeper into the answers that are being solved.

What did you think about “I Am Anne Frank” – Part 1? Why do you think the Monsignor is covering for Dr. Arden?